Folding laddeb



L. E. MOORE.

FOLDING LADDER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.20| |9J5- RENEWED MN. 9, I9l9.

1,3 14,201. Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

[- 2 SHEETS-SHEET lgnocnfoz L. E. moons.

FOLDING LADDER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV- 20, I9|5- RENEWED JAN. 9, l9l9- Patented Aug. 26,1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LAVERN E. MOORE, OF PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA.

FOLDING LADDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 20, 1915, Serial No. 62.571. Renewed January9, 1919. Serial No. 270,438.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LAVERN E. MOORE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Palo Alto, in the county of Santa Clara and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in FoldingLadders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in ladders of thecollapsible or folding type and resides in the provision of a simple,inexpensive and efficient folding ladder that may be readily and easilymoved into extended or folded position and when folded will take uplittle room.

Another object is to provide novel bracing means for the base of theladder that will operate to securely brace the ladder when in extendedposition and may be folded with the ladder.

The above and additional objects are accomplished by such means as areillustrated in the accompanying drawings, described in the followingspecification and then more particularly pointed out as claimed.

With reference to the drawings, wherein I have illustrated the preferredembodiment of my invention as it is reduced to practice, and throughoutthe several views of which similar reference numerals designatecorresponding parts,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the ladder as it would appear when inextended position,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the ladder as it would appearwhen in partly folded position,

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the ladder as it would appear when infolded position and being partly broken away,

Fig. 4 is a view of both of the joint members for connecting the rungsto the side rails of the ladder,

Fig. 5 is a detail plan View of one of the joint members to cooperatewith the members illustrated in Fig. 4,

. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of the hinge connecting the laddersections enlarged, and

Fig. 7 is a horizontal sectional'view of the folding ladder.

V Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, the numerals 1and 2 designate respectively the upper and lower sections of a ladder.The upper section includes side rails 3, and the lower section includesside rails 4. The side rails 3 and 1 of the respective sections areconnected by rungs 5. The rungs in the upper section 1 are differentfrom the rungs 5 in the lower section in that they are cylindricalinstead of fiat and connected "by a different styl'e of connectingmember as will be later more fully described.

The sections 1 and 2 are hingedly connected with each other by boxhinges 3 which are formed in the nature of a rectangular receptacle withthe ends open and have one side wall cut and extended at right anglesfor a distance equivalent to approximately half the length of the sidewalls and hingedly connected as at 6 with the other part of the sidewall to provide ahinge leaf 7. The hinge leaf 7 is secured upon one faceeach of the side rails 3 of the upper section 1 and said side rails ofthe upper section are designed to be extended within the adjacent openends of the body portion of the hinge.

The body portions of the hinges are secured by suitable fasteningelements 8 so that approximately one-half of each body portion isdisposed above the lower section and is thus capable of receiving thelower ends of the side rails 3 of the upper section 1. This provides acomparatively rigid joint and obviates possibility of collapsing of theladder when in extended position.

Hingedly secured as at 9 upon the outer faces of the side rails 4 of thelower section 2 are bracing legs 10 that extend outwardly and downwardlyfrom said side rails 4 and are connected with each other by means of toone another and arranged at the opposite faces of said legs 10. The bars11 are rigidly secured to the lower rung of the lower section 2 and thelower ends of the side rails 4 of the said lower section 2 extendsbetween the bars 11. The bars 11 which are arranged in parallelism arespaced apart to receive the lowerportion of the ladder and the said bars11 which are pivoted at their connecting bars 11 which bars are opposedends at 12 to the legs 10 are connected intermediate of their ends withthe ladder at the lower end of the lower section and they are adapted tomove with the lowermost rung of the ladder as clearly illustrated inFig. 2 of the outer ends thereof are" U shaped holding members orkeepers 14 that are designed to receive the legs 10 and limit theirmovement outwardly. Pins 15 are removably inserted throughthe keepers 14at points adjacent to the ends thereof and into the legs 10-s o that thelegs are limited as to inward movement when: the pinsxare in position.It will thusv be seen that the ladder when in extended opposed faces ofthe side. rails;

position and the legs 10 positionedas described theladder will be.prevented. fromtoppling over sidewise and a, firm footing thereforprovided since: the legs 10. engage. the ground and the side. bars 4are. spaced therefromi f Therungs 5. on;the;lower section 2 areconnected by suitable hinges: 16? with the side. rails 4 and areapproximately flat. Preferably the. hinges consist of removable socketsto receive theends of the rungs and a. stationary hinge leaf to. besecured to the left end of each of the lower rungs 5 the hinges 1.6 aresecured upon the upper. faces of said rungs and permit upward movementonly, from horizontal position of said rungs. The hinges are arrangedin: reversed form on the other ends of said rungs and"v it will thus beseen that looking action is provided that will prevent collapsing of theladder when in extended: position.

The upper rungs 5'are cylindrical and at each end carry small jointmembers which consist of shanks, 17 that are extended into the ends ofsaid rungs and have annular heads 18 thereon.v The socket membersconsistof similar members 19' and 20 each of which consists of a shank21 and an approximately semi-spherical head 22 that is formed'adj acentto its periphery with an arcuate recess 23 formed by cutting away aportion of said periphery. The members 19' and 20 are designed to besecured to one another after the heads 18' are placed therebetweem Theshanks 17 are slidable in the recesses 23 which aline with one anotherwhen the members 19 and'i2 0 are placed in position. The shanks 21 areinserted in the opposed facesxof the side rails 3 of the upper" section1 and pins 24 are inserted transversely through said side rails and theshanks 21 and' hold said members 19 and-20 against rotation and securelyin position. The recesses 23"form slots which are so arranged as topermit movement offthe rungs 5' of the upper section relative'tothe siderails.

"When it isdesired to fold or collapsethe ladder, the pins 15' areremoved} and the legs 10-are then free toswing in and engage theopposedfaces of the side rails 3 of? the lower section as shownin Fig; 2; Theupper On the nally with respect to the lower section the hinges of" thetwo sections are not. arranged to: permitv the parts to fold in unison.but counteract. each other and form-a. lock to prevent. the latter fromcollapsing laterally By'this construction the ladder isiautomaticallylocked, andfirmlyretained in opera-- tive position and effectivelyprevented from:

collapsing when arranged for use.

The rungs 5 when .the ladder is. folded or collapsed are interposedbetween the side rails and the bars 11 engage upon the side faces of theside rails and legs 10.

In practice, I have found that the form of my invention illustrated inthe drawings and referred tom the above description, as the preferredembodiment, is the most efiicient and practical, yet realizing. that theconditions concurrent with the adoption of my device will necessarilyvary, I desire to emphasize the fact that various. minor changes indetails of construction, proportion.- and'arrangement of parts may beresorted to, when requiredwithout sacrificing any of the advantages ofmy. invention, as set forth.

What is claimed is 1. A folding ladder comprising spaced side rails-andrungs hinged to theside rails to permit the same tocollapse or foldlaterally, inclined braces hinged at their upper ends to the side railsat the outer face of the same and: extending downwardly beyond the lowerend of the ladder, and horizontally disposed connecting bars arranged inparallelism and pivotally connected at their outer ends to the inclinedbraces intermediate of the ends thereof and connected between theirendswith the lower end of' the ladder-,.said ladder being extendeddownwardly between the parallel connecting bars so as to be braced bythe same, said connecting bars and inclined braces being arranged tofold flat against the ladder when the same is folded. V a y 2-. Afolding ladder comprising side rails, rungs hinged at their ends to theside rails and arranged to permit the ladder to collapse or-foldlaterally, inclined braces hinged at their upper ends to the outer facesof the side rails and diverging downwardly beyond the lower ends of thesaid'side-rails [L -shaped keepers embracing; and pivotally mounted onthe inclined. braces at points inpins piercing the said keepers andadapted termedliate of the ends thereof, parallel to hold the bracesagainst inward movement. 10

transverse connecting bars receiving the In testimony whereof I affix mysignature lower end of the ladder and connected with in presence of twowitnesses.

the same, said parallel bars being pivoted LAVERN E, MOORE. at theirends to the said keepers, and fold Witnesses: able with the inclinedbraces flat against C. W. MOORE,

- the ladder when the ladder is collapsed, and E. K. GARLIEPP.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner 0'1 Patents, Washington, D. 0.

